From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
In practice, she’s a key strategist and fund-raiser for almost every Democrat who’s won a recent election in Missouri. That includes the governor, lieutenant governor, state auditor, state treasurer, St. Louis county executive and St. Louis’ new mayor. Aboussie also figures prominently in the backroom maneuvering on almost every major issue in the state — from this spring’s congressional redistricting to the tentative agreement for a new Cardinals stadium. …
… She has one other passion: St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Her family helped entertainer Danny Thomas start the hospital almost 40 years ago. Actress Marlo Thomas, daughter of the late entertainer, says Aboussie has been on the hospital’s board since the early 1980s and now is vice chairman. She used her own money to endow a pediatric AIDS laboratory and, Thomas says, “easily” raises more than $1 million a year for the hospital. “I’m crazy about her,” said Thomas. “I’m from Hollywood and I know a lot of people who aren’t the genuine article. She is.”
Aboussie tries to stay in the background. But longtime friend Donna Brazile, who managed Gore’s White House bid, said Aboussie is increasingly attracting national attention. She calls Aboussie “one of the few women who’ve come through the ranks to be players on the national stage. She raises money. She raises hell. She does it with finesse.”
Read the rest.
